I wake up at midnight to the faint sounds of crying coming through the baby monitor. Since bringing our daughter, Nadya, home from the hospital a week ago, Brittany and I haven't gotten much sleep. Of course, she's gotten less because she carried, so I decide to not wake her up this time and take care of the baby myself.
I get out of bed slowly, careful not to wake Brittany up. Then, I walk out of our bedroom and across the hall to the nursery. Nadya is lying in her crib, fussing, but not to the point of full-blown crying yet.
I lift her out of her crib gently. Her blue eyes look up at me as I walk over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room and sit down.
There is a prepared bottle sitting on the small table beside the chair. I'd told Brittany that if we prepared one every evening, I would gladly take a feeding each night. It hasn't happened yet because she seems to have super-parenting instincts, but tonight I'll finally get to spend some one-on-one time with Nadya.
I pick up the bottle and offer it to her. She starts sucking on it almost immediately.
"I love you so much, you know that?" I don't speak loudly, just loud enough to know that Nadya will hear. I know she can't understand what I'm telling her, but I want her to smile when she hears my voice, like she does when she hears Brittany's.
"I love your eyes, and I love your expressions; I love how much you look like your mommy."
I smile as she finishes her bottle. Taking it away, I start to burp her, and once she's finished, I continue to rock her gently in the chair.
"You're perfect and completely beautiful; I hope you never forget that, Nadya," I continue.
Some people would say that, since I'm technically not related by blood to Nadya, we're not ever going to be as connected as Brittany is with her. And maybe it is true, but I feel such a strong connection with our daughter, that it doesn't matter. It's like how adoptive parents still feel a connection with their child. Nadya is both Brittany and my's baby, no matter what anyone else says.
I start to quietly sing to Nadya as I rock her back to sleep.
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Hey, so I realized it's been a while (more than a year) since I published a one-shot, so I wrote a super short one for you. I would love any feedback; if you have an opinion, feel free to share! Thanks for reading!